An open letter from the tricolour!

Dear Indians,
It's the time of the year when I will be *in demand* again.
So I considered talking to you all.

I see you all everyday, from the clogged drain, as you are busy in your daily chores. I also see you from the garbage dump and from the terraces of a few houses.

I'm the tricolour.
I'm hoisted everywhere. If offices and governmental venues are ignored, I can be seen on the visor of bikes, hood of Cars, on terraces, on the entrance of houses and in the hands of everyone who is painted in patriotism.
But this happens only on two days.
After dusk, I'm back in my place. In municipal garbage dump, in clogged drains, on roadside ditches. I can be found everywhere.

Patriots tread on me and I go unnoticed most of the times. There are some who have the courtesy to pick me up from road and keep me in the acute corner, so that nobody treads on me again. But alas, there are a few like that.  Others are ignorant.
This goes on and on till my day arrives.
I watch in horror as those who harm me, and the peace of my country drape me with valour and roam about creating a ruckus.
All in my name!
I'm draped when they want to fight, when they want to prove a stupid point.

Do you ever realise how lucky you are to have your own Constitution, your own government, your own flag and above all your freedom? When the freedom fighters fought against the Foreign Rule, they never intended for freedom to signify being divided. They intended it to signify sticking together, in highs and lows, in emergency and peace, under a tricolour, that's me.
They never wished for the India of today.
I never wished for an India of today.

When we won our freedom, we thought the biggest hurdle has been accomplished. But seldom had we known, the worse is yet to come.
Because when you get something without struggle, more is less.
For you all, more freedom is less.
You need freedom from everything.
It horrifies me to see people debating over hoisting tricolour in educational institutions, debating over extreme national and anti national, debating over the national anthem being played in cinema halls. I am horrified when I see people debating against me, or the national anthem on the grounds of democracy and interference in autonomy of the place. Since when did the symbols of freedom, peace and integrity become a threat to freedom and independence?

The Supreme Court in 1996 passed a landmark judgement allowing every citizen to fly the national flag with respect, dignity and honour, thus making it a fundamental right. The Union Government approved the recommendations of the inter-ministerial committee headed by P. D. Shenoy and removed the restrictions on the use of the National Flag by all Indian citizens from January 26, 2002.

Now I wish they shouldn't have.
Have you ever wondered, how do I feel?

It pains me to see myself being used in petty brawls in the country based on negligent issues, regardless of what the agenda is. I feel ashamed when a riot is inflamed on my name.
Dear Indians, leave me alone. Don't drag me into your personal agendas. I'm the symbol of the struggles of Indian freedom fighters, I'm the symbol of strength of the soldiers guarding our nation, I'm the symbol of hope that every citizen has on this country's citizens Constitution, I'm the tricolour that has inspired soldiers to March away from the comfort of their homes to guard the honour of their county, I'm the one who motivates every citizen to perform acts of untold glory.
I'm above caste, creed, race, religion, region and everything that decided our nation. I'm the uniform mascot.

When the freedom fighters struggled for independence, they would never have imagined this to be the plight of the tricolour they wished to see fluttering freely under the blue sky. They wouldn't have imagined a debate on the issues that have no head or tail. They wouldn't have imagined that the dusk of "my day" will bring me on the roads. They wouldn't have thought I would be disrespected to this extent.
If they had, they wouldn't have struggled so hard for the independence that you no longer value.

Participating in functions, playing patriotic songs on loudspeakers, hoisting me in every alley, hanging me to your bike won't make you a patriot.
You know who is a true patriot?
That poor soul who sleeps on the footpath but picks me up, wipes me in his tattered clothes, and keeps me aside. That poor soul who remembers the freedom fighters with a smile. The poor soul who works hard each day, without a complaint, without cussing the government or the country. The poor soul who sheds a tear for the martyrs, rather than trying to get publicity out of it. The poor soul who is disturbed by the roadside loudspeakers kept by the so called patriots, and chooses to sacrifice his sleep for me.
Learn from him.

Learn from the mother who sends her only son to the border. Learn from the newly Wedded bride who sends her groom away to serve the nation. Learn from the kids who grow up without their father. And yet their respect never lingers. They love for the country never falters. Nothing tarnishes their view of the country.

Independence day is here.
Before you get around buying another one of my caricature, decide whether you are ready to respect it or not. Because if I'm found in drains the next day, there's no significance of celebrating the day.
None at all.
~
Jai Hind!